The Chalice Of The Ancients
by Caspican Duck Duck
Summary: A demon holy grail ends up in evil hands when it is stolen from a Los Angeles museum. Angel, Doyle and Cordelia follow it to Sunnydale and together with Buffy and The Scoobies, they fight to stop The Chalice Of The Ancients becoming active on the Hellmouth. Set during season 4 of Buffy and season 1 of Angel. Spoilers up to The Initiative and The Bachelor Party.
1. Chapter 1

Summary: A demon holy grail ends up in evil hands when it is stolen from a Los Angeles museum. Angel, Doyle and Cordelia follow it to Sunnydale and together with Buffy and The Scoobies, they fight to stop The Chalice Of The Ancients becoming active on the Hellmouth. Set during season 4 of Buffy and season 1 of Angel. Spoilers up to The Initiative and The Bachelor Party.

Disclaimer: I simply borrowed these characters to make a nice little story. They're not mine so please don't sue me. That wouldn't be any fun.

Feedback: Always. Reviews are like sex, I don't get much but I'll take what I get even if it's bad.

Distribution: This story is not to be reposted anywhere in part or in full without my express permission.

Author's Notes: This story takes place during Buffy's fourth season and Angel's first season. It takes place after the Buffy episode The Initiative and the Angel episode The Bachelor Party. It skews from the regular season timeline after that point.

xxxxx

The Land of Galren. Mystite Dimension.

Clouds gathered over The Castle Of Derth, as a line of dark-robed men made their way through the gates towards the castle's main tower. They were Mystics, and they had great power, especially the ability to open portals to other worlds. The Castle Of Derth had once been home to King Willard, but it was now used to summon spirits. These spirits were used as guides for mortal men. Some were kept in this mortal dimension as companions or slaves, but most were sent back to whence they came. Here in the land of Galren, Mystics ruled the people, but it had not always been this way.

During the rule of King Willard, all people were equal. King Willard was a good man and a good ruler of Galren. He often called upon the Mystics to help him with decision making, to guide him. His most trusted friend was a Mystic called Choben. The pair had grown up together. King Willard trusted Choben with his life, and in all his time ruling Galren that was the good King's one mistake, for Choben had a hidden agenda. He worshipped the Dark Lords of The Other Worlds, and knowing that The Castle Of Derth was home to a powerful portal, he used King Willard's trust to bring the Dark Lords to the mortal world. King Willard was a valiant warrior, sworn to keep Galren safe from evil, but Choben was obsessed with the power that dark magic gave him, and was willing to forsake everything for it, even his childhood friend. When Choben received an order from the Dark Lords to kill King Willard, Choben acted without hesitation. **  
**  
King Willard was taken by surprise, not expecting that his closest friend and trusted confidante would turn on him. Choben had slipped in to the King's chambers and slit the monarch's throat. The struggle was briefand King Willard died quickly. With the throne now vacant and noapparent heir since the death of King Willard's only son years earlier, Choben used the power the Dark Lords had bestowed upon him to take control of Galren. Soon the land of Galren was a dark and forboding place, and entry point for the most vile and violent creatures of other worlds. None more violent than Dreshnur, a Kaedhir demon from the Tuhmyul Dimension. Choben had summoned Dreshnur because the Mystic knew that the Kaedhir demon had a great power in his posession.

Thousands of years earlier deep in the far reaches of the Tuhmyul Dimension, the first Kaedhir demon, Wavkyr, carved a chalice from the stone that made up the hell dimension. The Tuhmyul Dimension was the first known Hellmouth and the stone there was said to be composed of ancient demon flesh. This chalice embodied all that was evil. The purest forms of evil were used to carve it since the stone was impenetrable by any method other than dark magic. The magicks used to carve the chalice made it untouchable to any with a soul. Wavkyr deemed any soulless being as a "pure one" when he wrote a scroll to tell of the reasons for his chalice. After Wavkyr's death the chalice was lost during looting and plundering in the aftermath of the three century long War Of The Ages and remained so for many thousands of years and became known only by legend and folklore. It was known as The Chalice Of The Ancients and all Kaedhir demons deeply respected it and held it in high regard.

When Dreshnur stumbled upon The Chalice, he was made a hero in the Tuhmyul dimension. That is until he stole it. The Chalice was a source of great, unspeakable evil and as such it more often than not possessed the holder of it with greed and malice. Dreshnur found a portal that led away from the Tuhmyul dimension and he leapt in to it knowing that whatever lay on the other side would be far more forgiving than a group of Kaedihr demons out for blood.

The portal he jumped in to was one created by Choben and the Mystic had foretold of the Kaedihr demon's arrival in the Mystite dimension. Dreshnur was captured upon his entrance through the portal and brought before Choben who had learnt of The Chalice Of The Ancients by studying portals and hearing the various myths and legends surrounding the demon-made cup. Dreshnur believed that his coming to the Mystite dimension at the time he did was purely a coincedence, but Choben had engineered it so that if The Chalice was ever found and a portal opened within the Tuhmyul dimension it could only lead to one place, the Mystite dimension and more precisely, The Castle of Derth.

When Choben had Dreshnur before him he demanded that demon hand over the all powerful chalice. The demon refused, explaining that only a "pure one" could touch The Chalice and therefore Choben would have to be de-soulled. Dreshnur told Choben that he could perform an ancient Kaedhir ritual which would take Choben's soul from him and deem him worthy of The Chalice. The power hungry and obsessed Mystic agreed and behind closed doors, Dreshnur performed the ritual. It was a violent ritual that required Choben to recite ancient Kaedhir phrases and sever his fingers and toes. Then he was covered in the blood of a Mahbvun demon. The blood was akin to acid and painfully seeped in to Choben's ancient Kaedhir ritual did take Choben's soul, but it also infused him with the essence of Kaedhir demon which rendered him half human half Kaedihr but without a soul. When the ritual ended Dreshnur gave the Mystic his Kaedhir name of Kralar and Choben was no more. In his place was a brutal creature fused with the violence of a Kaedhir demon and the greed of an obsessed human.**  
**  
Now as strong as Dreshnur, Kralar challenged the demon to a duel which Kralar won, defeating and destroying his 'creator' and, taking possesion of The Chalice. As Kralar he ruled the land of Galren for over a thousand years, his greed and lust for power growing more with each passing century. Many men from Galren dared to try and overthrow their cruel ruler but all had failed until now.

Now in the year of 1277, as the Mystics made their way in to The Castle Of Derth, a new warrior had arisen. A descendant of one of King Willard's most trusted guards**, **a brave and mighty citizen of Galren, a man who wanted to save his dying homeland. That man was Ulac-Tal and his mission, like that of so many before him, was to breach the walls of The Castle Of Derth and steal The Chalice. Ulac-Tal was a warrior of his village and had been charged with the deadly mission by the village wise men. They had imbued him with a spell that enabled him, for one day only, to touch The Chalice even though he had a soul. That meant that he had very little time to take The Chalice from the cruel Kralar. After exactly twenty-four hours the spell would not work and if Ulac-Tal touched The Chalice after that time, he would burn to nothing, as was the way with any souled creature that dared hold The Chalice Of The Ancients.

The land of Galren had suffered greatly at the hands of Kralar. Formerly Choben, right hand Mystic to former ruler King Willard, the now half-human, half-Kaedihr demon had virtually destroyed the world with his maniacal lust for power and penchant for opening portal after portal. Every creature he brought to this dimension he enslaved. The land of Galren was breaking apart, volcanoes where mountains once stood, earthquakes a frequent occurrence. Ulac-Tal was not the first warrior to attempt to take The Chalice from Kralar but he was likely to be the last for Galren was almost destroyed. Not much of his homeland remained and Ulac-Tal was determined to save what was left.

Ulac-Tal stood tall like King Willard and had the same flowing red mane that the monarch had possessed. It was his knowledge of this noble ancestory that gave Ulac-Tal the determination to make his way across the broken land to The Castle Of Derth. The Castle Of Derth was a foreboding structure and it cast an evil shadow over the landscape. Ulac-Tal watched as the dark robed Mystics made their way in to the castle. He waited, biding his time until the last Mystic was making his way across the bridge. Ulac-Tal moved swiftly and silently, swooping down on a rope and snatching up the Mystic before anyone saw or heard anything. With a quick snap of the robed man's neck, Ulac-Tal put the dark robe on and quickly joined the procession. Once they all crossed the bridge the large door closed behind -Tal breathed a sigh of relief, he had done it, he was inside The Castle Of Derth.

Once inside, Ulac-Tal broke away from the procession and made his own way through the expansive corridors of the castle. He found the massive, cavern-like throne room where Kralar kept The Chalice. The room was spectacularly bright compared to the rest of the castle and Ulac-Tal had to wait a moment for his eyes to adjust. Then he saw it. It was of no particular significance, just a stone cup but even from the distance he had Ulac-Tal could feel the evil radiating from The Chalice. He made his way across the throne room stepping lightly so as not to alert anyone to his presence. When he was standing in front of The Chalice Of The Ancients, he froze. Such unspeakable evil had been used to create The Chalice and more unspeakable evil had occurred as result of it. Just being near it frightened even a brave warrior like Ulac-Tal. An earthquake shook in the distance. Earthquakes were a direct result of Choben's thirst for power and his penchant for opening portals.

His hands shook as he reached for The Chalice, and in his mind he repeated several prayers he had learnt as a boy. They all asked only one thing; that the spell the wise men had used would work. If it didn't Ulac-Tal knew that he would die a painful death as he burned from The Chalice's touch. As his fingers wrapped around the demon-made stone cup he swallowed hard, thankful that the spell had worked. He grasped the cup, putting it gently in to the pouch he carried around his waist. He then turned to start his escape from the castle when he saw a horrifying figure appear in the room. The legendary Kralar, self-elected ruler of Galren.

"Ulac-Tal. You have come for The Chalice as I had foreseen. You will not leave this place." Kralar told the warrior, his voice an inhuman mixture of hissing and gurgles.

Ulac-Tal steadied himself, reaching for the scabbard strapped to his back and producing a three foot blade. His knuckles turned white as he gripped the handle and stepped toward the Kaedhir halfbreed. His eyes were cold as steel as he watched Kralar take a large blade of his own from the wall. Kralar walked toward the warrior, his crimson eyes almost glowing like pools of irredescent blood.

"You were foolish to enter the castle. Like all those before you, you shall perish." Kralar stated as the pair of combatants closed in on each other.

"Fiend, you will die." Ulac-Tal stated simply.

The warrior lunged toward the halfbreed demon raising his sword and bringing it around in a large arc, slashing through the air directly in front of Kralar. Kralar stepped back, sweeping his blade up sharply to deflect the intended blow. The clang of metal against metal echoed through the vast throne room as each combatant took a step away readying themselves for the next assualt. Kralar was the first to strike, launching a full frontal attack that sent Ulac-Tal backward to escape the swinging blade. Ulac -Tal then wheeled to the right, lifting his foot and kicking out hard. He struck the half Kaedhir in the midsection forcing him to fall to one knee.

While Kralar was vulnerable Ulac-Tal slashed his shoulder. The cruel ruler cried out in agony, his shrill scream filling the throne room like an angered spirit. Filled with pain and pure rage, Kralar rushed at Ulac-Tal violently slashing with his sword as purple blood oozed from the gash in his shoulder. His first blow was deflected by the warrior but his second and third struck Ulac-Tal on his right thigh and abdomen. The long haired warrior dropped his sword and that was when Kralar struck the final blow, thrusting his blade forward in to Ulac-Tal's stomach, the sharp metal sliding in to it like a hot knife in to butter.

The fallen warrior stared at his killer with wide eyes, a horrified expression plastered on his face. He clutched the pouch strapped to his side in a vain attempt to keep The Chalice from Kralar. The half-demon smiled malevolently as he closed in. He reached for the side pouch on Ulac-Tal's body and began to laugh. It started as a hissing but escalated to an insane cackle that filed the throne room. Ulac-Tal's shoulders sagged as he accepted his fate, knowing that he had failed to get The Chalice free of the castle.

Suddenly another earthquake struck. It began to split the castle in two, the floor of the throne room cracked, large rivers of lava bubbling through them. Ulac-Tal fixed his resolve and hoisted himself painfully to his feet. The earthquake had distracted Kralar enough for Ulac-Tal to rush at him tackling the half-breed demon across the room. They fell to the floor and rolled, Ulac-Tal's side pouch coming free. The Chalice clattered loose and rolled in to the lava, steam rising as it did. Soon after Ulac-Tal and Kralar, still fighting, followed it.

xxxxx

The year 2000. The City Of Los Angeles. Earth Dimension.

The Los Angeles Museum was a large, ornately decorated building, both inside and out. It housed many things including a number of oddities that were mostly inexplicable and never publicly shown. A tall man with brown hair wandered through the halls taking time to absently look at the exhibits and such adorning the walls and floors. He was a suspicious looking man, seemingly with an objective not well hidden by his undisguised impatience. He looked up from an information chart when he heard his name called from one of the many doorways.

"Mr. Rayne? Ethan Rayne?" the voice called. **  
**  
Ethan Rayne was an Englishman who liked to dabble in things that were considered not normal. Unusual objects, occult paraphernalia, indescribable things of any kind, that was Ethan Rayne's forte. His intentions however were seldom pure and he did not carry a trustworthy air. He'd been hired by the Los Angeles Museum to identify a number of new acquisitions. Ethan was known in certain circles for his expertise with antiques of an unusual background. He never had to hide his knowledge of demons and magic because most of the people who hired him were fairly well versed in such things. People such as Dr. Mitch Schwartz, one of the curators of the museum, who dealt with Ethan on a regular basis. Dr. Schwartz was an authority on paranormal artefacts and the like. He was the only person Ethan knew that was as learned in the subject aside from his old friend Rupert Giles.

"Dr. Schwartz. A pleasure as always." Ethan greeted as he walked over to the doctor and extending his hand.

Dr. Schwartz shook Ethan's hand and led him in to the basement of the museum. Once they were there Dr. Schwartz opened a large wooden box and showed Ethan the first object that require identification. Ethan took one look at the object and his jaw dropped.

"Dear God. The Chalice Of The Ancients." Ethan gasped.

"That's right. You're familiar with it?"

"I've heard myths and legends. How did you get it? It's supposed to have existed in another dimension." Ethan asked the grey-haired man next to him.

"It did. The Mystite dimension. Apparently when the land of Galren in that dimension was destroyed by too many portals the Mystite dimension bled in to ours and Galren became fused with Europe back in the twelve hundreds. It was found at a dig outside of Paris." the curator said.

Ethan rubbed his chin pensively.

"What else do you know about it?"

"It was forged on a Hellmouth of all things, so the legend says, as you'd know. Thing is it can only be touched by a "pure one", someone without a soul. It had to be handled using tongs. One guy touched it and burned alive. It supposedly holds a great evil, only able to be released by a Hellmouth. God knows where you'd find one of those in this dimension."

A small smile crept on to Ethan's face.

"God knows, Dr. Schwartz. God knows indeed." /lj-cut


	2. Chapter 2

Nightime was a busy time for Angel Investigations. Most of their clientele came out at night and also, the owner couldn't go out in to the sunlight. Angel sat at his desk in his office, leaning back on his big chair casually watching the man sitting across from him. Angel only met Doyle a while ago but they had already formed a unique combination. Doyle got visions from The Powers That Be, therefore making him Angel's link to The Powers. Doyle was part demon and that made he and Angel the ultimate demon odd couple. Doyle had a penchant for a good single malt whisky, Angel was trying to atone for years of bad deeds.

"So I was readin' the 'paper today." Doyle said casually watching Angel across the desk.

"Really." Angel replied, not disguising his lack of enthusiasm for the statement.

"Yeah. Found this little piece in there." Doyle continued as he handed Angel a folded newspaper. He pointed to an article entitled 'L.A. Museum acquires new antiquities' and added, "My friend Nasty Simon tells me one of those 'antiquities' is somethin' called The Chalice Of The Ancients. It's supposed to be pretty nasty according to Nasty Simon. I've never heard of it."

Angel put the newspaper down and steepled his hands under his chin.

"I have. And I think pretty nasty is an understatement. If your source is correct and this thing gets out of that museum and we're in for big trouble." Angel told Doyle.

"So we're lookin' at an apocalypse then?" Doyle asked, knowing that it was more than likely.

Angel stood from his desk and stretched his legs.

"Not if it stays there. It's not actually supposed to exist in this dimension so hopefully it won't actually be the genuine Chalice. We'll keep an eye on it**,"** Angel reasoned and headed for the door.

Doyle followed, grabbing the paper and hurrying toward the door. He took no more than two steps and dropped the paper to the floor, clutching his head. Images flashed through his mind as fast as the freight train of pain that accompanied them. He saw a stone cup, then the front of the Los Angeles Museum and then a signpost for Sunnydale. The vision lasted only a few seconds but the mind-numbing migraine would linger for at least an hour. On cue Angel was by Doyle's side with a pen, a pad and a shot of single malt whisky. He handed Doyle the glass of opaque liquid and grabbed a chair for the Irishman. As Doyle took a seat, Angel sat on the edge of his desk and prepared to write down the details of Doyle's latest vision.

Doyle rubbed his eyes and blinked repeatedly trying to get the spots out of his eyes. He knew that being Angel's link to The Powers That Be was a big deal but he wished the visions didn't have to come with the migraines. He rubbed his temples and cleared his throat, then he swallowed the shot of whisky.

"Stone cup. I'm guessing The Chalice 'cause then I saw the museum. Then I saw Sunnydale. I think someone's takin' The Chalice to Sunnydale. And they're not takin' it on tour, Angel." Doyle said, grimacing with pain.

Angel froze when Doyle mentioned Sunnydale. He'd only left the town a short while ago and his failed relationship with Buffy was still fresh in his mind. He swallowed hard at the thought of her being in danger. If The Chalice Of The Ancients was heading to Sunnydale, she certainly would be in danger. The whole town would be. Angel threw the pad and pencil on to his desk and stood straight.

"We have to get to the Los Angeles Museum. We have to stop that Chalice leaving L.A." Angel stated, turning on his heel, his black duster billowing behind him like a dark flag caught in the wind.

Doyle raised a hand slightly as if to get Angel's attention as he started to jog toward the door.

"I'll come with." he called, clutching his head in pain as he followed Angel out the door.

Soon Angel pulled his Plymouth up to the kerb outside the Los Angeles Museum with a screeching of tyres. He jumped out of the car and hurried up the steps followed by Doyle who was still recovering from his vision.

"That whisky was good. I could use the bottle though. And a bottle of Tylenol." Doyle quipped as they made their way through the doors and in to the museum's main hall.

As they stepped through the large glass doors a chaotic scene confronted them. Two men were involved in a scuffle watched by a demon of fairly large proportions. Angel started running as the taller of the two men threw a punch. The older man fell to the ground and Angel began sprinting. He got half way between the door and the trio when the demon ran at him knocking him off his feet. Angel hit the ground flat on his back and slid in to the wall. By this time Doyle was running toward the demon who batted him aside like a rag doll. Doyle hit the wall and crumpled to the floor while the demon and the tall man made their escape.

Angel was the first to his feet and by the unconscious man's side in a flash. He checked the man's pulse then tried to rouse him. By the time the grey-haired man came to, Doyle had himself regained consciousness. The Irishman slowly walked over to where Angel was crouching.

"Ok, so now I need that bottle of Tylenol." he said rubbing the back of his head.

Angel glanced at Doyle acknowledging the comment then turned his attention back to the man laying on the floor.

"Are you alright?" Angel asked concernedly.

"Don't worry about me. They stole something of great importance. I need to get it back." the old man wheezed, straining to get to feet.

"Easy." Doyle warned as he and Angel steadied the fallen man.

"Dr…." Angel paused and looked at the curator's nametag. "… Schwartz, what was it that they stole?" he asked, knowing full well that it was more than likely The Chalice.

"The Chalice Of The Ancients. It's imperative that it is returned to the museum. It's a very dangerous artifact." Dr. Schwartz told him.

Angel looked at Doyle and even though they hadn't worked together for very long, Doyle knew what that look meant.

"Go." he stated.

"You're sure?" Angel asked anxiously, already beginning to move.

"We're alright here. Go. They've already got a hell of a head start."

Angel nodded and sprinted back toward the front doors, his long duster billowing behind him like a super hero's cape. Doyle watched him go then turned back to Dr. Schwartz who was already feeling slightly better. He used Doyle's arm to hoist himself to his feet. Doyle aided the curator to stand, making sure he could stand by himself.

"I have a phone call to make." the doctor told Doyle, absently walking toward his office.

"Yeah, so do I." Doyle replied, pulling a cellphone from the pocket of his leather jacket.

Doyle pressed a button on the phone and put it to his ear, watching as Dr. Schwartz uneasily made his way to his office. He sighed heavily when there was no answer. He pushed a button disconnecting the call, put the phone back to his ear holding it there with his shoulder, and grabbed a small notepad from another pocket in his jacket. He quickly flipped through it then took the phone from his ear and punched in a number. He waited for moment and this time the call was answered.

"Cordy. What are you doin' at the office? I thought you were at home." he stated. "No, I didn't know the office is nicer than your apartment." Doyle rolled his eyes. "Ok then, that's fine. Look, I need you to drive over to the Los Angeles Museum. I need you to pick me up. Angel's gone after an ancient demon artefact and he's gonna need our help."

Doyle waited for a reply then thanked Cordy and ended the call. He put the phone back in his pocket and headed in to Dr. Schwartz's office. When he got there, he came in on the middle of telephone conversation.

"Oh hello Mr. Giles. Mitch Schwartz from the L.A Museum. We have a major problem. If you remember our telephone conversation I told I was getting some valuable antiquities." Dr. Schwartz paused for the other man to respond. "Yes. Well unfortunately one of them was stolen so I won't need you to come and examine them just yet."

Doctor Schwartz finished the call and then hung up the phone and turned to face Doyle who was standing in the doorway patiently waiting.

"I never got your name young man, or the name of your friend." Dr. Schwartz said.

"Doyle. The other fella's Angel. I just came to make sure you're alright. I've got someone comin' to get me. Angel and I are gonna try and get that Chalice back."

"Please, Mr. Doyle." the doctor grabbed Doyle's arm for effect. "Be extremely careful. The Chalice is very dangerous."

"I know." Doyle said simply, turning and heading toward the museum entrance.

By the time Doyle got down the ornate steps of the museums front entrance, Cordelia was pulling in to the kerb. He hurried over to the car, opening the door and sliding in to the passenger seat.

"You look fantastic." Doyle said with a grin.

"Here." Cordy replied plainly, handing him a bottle of whisky.

"Cordy, you're a lifesaver."

Doyle took the whisky and leant toward Cordy who pulled away.

"Those lips touch my face and I'll rip them off." She then gave him a sweet smile and added, "Ok?"

"Fair enough." Doyle said, unscrewing the cap off the bottle and taking a large gulp of whisky.

The streets of Los Angeles were choked with cars as Angel weaved his Plymouth in and out of the spasmodically moving traffic. When he had exited the museum he had managed to get a glimpse of the small delivery truck the man and demon had escaped in. He was now heading south on Vine toward it's intersection with Amsterdam. As he passed a lime green De Sotto he caught sight of the burgundy truck that carried The Chalice and it's thieves.

Angel put his foot to the floor, pushing the engine as hard as it would let him. The car howled in protest as Angel urged it forward, his eyes fixed on his target. He knew that he had to stop The Chalice reaching Sunnydale. If it got to the Hellmouth, Armageddon would be inevitable. Angel's mind briefly drifted to the prospect of Buffy being in danger and his blood boiled. He got along side the truck as the lights changed and it pulled away. Angel swerved past a turning motorcycle, the rider cursing at him as Angel nearly clipped the bike. Angel briefly glanced back, an apologetic look on his face.

When he turned his attention back to the truck he caught sight of an automatic weapon. The demon, which was perched in the passenger seat of the vehicle, sprayed the street with bullets, forcing Angel to speed closer in order to have the bullets concentrated on him so as to avoid having them hit any innocent people. A bullet tore in to his right shoulder making steering slightly difficult. His eyes fixed on the truck in front of him, Angel floored the accelerator. His right arm burned as he wrenched the steering wheel hard left, hitting the side of the truck. It had the desired effect because the demon that was peppering Angel's Plymouth with a deadly rain of bullets lost his grip on the weapon. The gun fell to the street and under the wheel of Angel's car.

There was a slight bump as the car sped over the fallen firearm. Angel swerved again, trying to stop the truck. Suddenly, there was a loud bang and the steering wheel began to shake violently. Angel cursed as he immediately realised he had blown a tyre. He tried in vain to force the car to keep up with the truck but he could hear the slapping of rubber against the road as the tyre began to disintegrate. He pulled over to the side of the street, slamming his hands against the steering wheel.

"Damn it!" he cursed, reaching in to his pocket for his cell phone.

Meanwhile, Cordy and Doyle made their way along Vine scanning the street for any sign of Angel. Doyle had so far mistakenly indentified three cars as Angel's Plymouth. When he pointed to another car in front of them, Cordy rolled her eyes.

"There!" Doyle exclaimed, his finger outstretched toward a black convertible several cars ahead. "I think."

"Oh I swear, Doyle, if you point to another car that isn't Angel, I'm going to remove your..."

She never got to finish the sentence as Doyle's cellphone rang to life.

"Hold that rather that disturbin' thought for just a second." Doyle said, raising his hand. He then answered the call. "Doyle speakin'". There was a slight pause then he continued. "Angel. Are you ok man?" Another breif pause. "Blown tyre huh?" Doyle hit the phone with the palm of his hand. "Line went dead." he stated.

"He never charges his damn phone!" Cordy spat in frustration.

She had been trying without success to make Angel see the benefits of a fully charged cellphone battery. It seemed that he couldn't get used to technology like that though. Sometimes she thought he was still stuck back in the seventeen hundreds. At least his dress sense had improved since then, she thought to herself.

"He must be up ahead somewhere. Before the phone cut out I'm sure I heard him say Vine." Doyle told Cordy as she navigated the constantly slowing traffic.

Cordy drove with purpose, both she and Doyle intently watching the side of the road, trying to catch sight of Angel. After a few minutes they finally found him standing by his car, his black duster swept up in the wind of each passing car.

"There he is!" Doyle said, pointing to Angel.

"Are you sure this time?" Cordy asked in reference to the four times Doyle had thought a car was Angel's when it wasn't.

"Oh yeah, for sure, that's our Dark Knight." Doyle replied.

Cordelia eased the car to the kerb and Angel swiftly jumped in the back seat.

"Where to now?" Cordy asked him, glancingly back to him.

"Sunnydale." Angel replied, his expression dark.

Meanwhile, high above L.A. in the offices of Wolfram and Hart, lawyer Lindsey MacDonald walked in to the office of his fellow lawyer Lilah Morgan. He placed a folder down on her desk. Lilah picked it up with limited interest.

"What's this?" she asked as she opened the folder. Inside she found several surveilance photos. "These are of Angel."

"That's right. It appears that Angel is considered a threat by the Senior Partners. He was spotted not an hour ago leaving L.A. I just thought you might like to know." Lindsey stated.

Lilah thought there had to be more to it.

"Surely the Senior Partners aren't just going to sit by and watch him leave?"

"That's the funny thing, they are. They're of the opinion that he'll be back. Me, I'm not so sure. So I decided to take a look at his paper work."

"'His paper work' as in the paper work we have on him, or the paper work in his office?"

Lindsey gave her a smirk.

"That's breaking and entering, Lindsey." Lilah said with mock disgust.

"Well, we might find something interesting. And besides it's not break and enter if we don't get caught." Lindsey replied. /lj-cut


	3. Chapter 3

Sunnydale was a small town; not exactly Hicksville but it was no L.A. either. As Cordelia wove through the streets of the place she once lived, memories of her time growing up here flooded back to her. She'd only been gone for a matter of months but now that she was back it felt like years. Sunnydale had so many memories and demons and vampires and other uglies. Cordy shuddered and realised that her Dad being caught by the IRS might not have been such a bad thing.

For Angel, his memories of Sunnydale were bittersweet with the emphasis on the bitter. For the most part Angel had suffered in this town, although it was unlike any other place he'd ever been to, and he'd been to a lot of places in his two hundred plus years. His relationship with Buffy had been both the highlight and the lowlight of his time in the town. It was also the reason he left. He'd only been gone for a few months but that time without the woman that was truly the love of his life seemed like an eternity. And Angel knew a lot about eternity.

"We're here." Cordy stated as she pulled up to the kerb. She spun around in her seat to face Angel and asked, "Are you sure this is the first place you wanna go, Angel?"

Angel nodded, knowing that this would be the hardest place to go any time, first or last.

"I'm sure. I won't be long." Angel told her, opening the door and getting out. He stopped, thought a moment and then leant down to her window. "Wait fifteen minutes. If I'm not back, you better come in. Just to be safe." he added, a look of intrepidation on his face.

As he and Cordy watched Angel walk in to the apartment block they had parked near, Doyle asked her, "So who is this Giles guy anyways?"

"Giles," Cordy began, pausing to take a deep breath, ", Giles is someone Angel hurt really badly. This could get ugly."

"Angel went in there knowin' that?"

"Well yeah. Despite their history Angel and Giles can work well together. Angel figures Giles knows something about The Chalice. And let's face it, we're gonna need all the help we can get."

"Ain't that the truth."

Meanwhile, Angel stood at the door of Giles's apartment gathering himself before knocking on the door. Since he killed Jenny Calendar he had been painfully aware of the hurt he had caused Giles. The second time he regained his soul had been a far more painful experience than the first. The people he hurt during his second time as Angelus had been people he knew and cared for. As he waited for Giles to answer the door, Angel resigned himself to the fact that things were never going to be easy. Ever.

When Giles answered the door, his face lost all colour and his expression changed to one of disbelief. He couldn't believe that Angel was back in Sunnydale, but more over he could not believe that the vampire with a soul was standing on his doorstep.

"Angel." Giles stated plainly. "What brings you here at this time of night?"

Angel noticed Giles take a defensive stance. He couldn't blame the man.

"Vampire, remember? Daytime's not exactly my favourite time to make social calls." Angel quipped, his tone deadpan.

"This is a social call?"

"Not exactly." Angel replied, shifting uncomfortably under Giles's gaze.

"So you know about The Chalice then." Giles reasoned.

"Yeah I do. I also know that it's in town somewhere." Angel informed the former Watcher.

Giles nodded, then remembered one of the basic rules about vampires. They must be invited in.

"Come in. I've been looking through some information on the internet. Nothing concrete however."

Angel stepped across the threshold, not oblivious to the effort made on Giles part in inviting him in. He walked over to the desk where Giles was now seated tapping keys on a small laptop computer. Suddenly the bespectacled Englishman threw his hands in the air in a wild gesture of frustration.

"Infernal nuisance! How can something so technologically advanced be so stubborn and obstinate? Why don't you tell me that you confounded contraption!" Giles shouted, abusing the computer.

Angel watched the one sided exchange with bemusement.

"I don't think it's going to answer you back, which may be lucky in this case." he reasoned.

Giles gave Angel a sideways glance then tapped a few more keys and sighed heavily, closing the laptop.

"I swear I really don't know how Willow finds it so easy to use those damn things." he said, gesturing to the now dormant computer sitting on the desk. "Give me a volume of the Black Chronicles any day." he added with a chuckle.

Angel didn't share the joke. Giles noticed and quickly became serious. He walked over to the kitchen counter where he had stacked a pile of manilla folders. He picked them up and flipped through them until he found the one he was looking for. He walked back to Angel and handed him the folder. Angel took the folder and opened it.

"There's not much information about The Chalice in here." Angel said of the folder.

"Yes I know. Unfortunately, I haven't found more than a few pages of information.I sourced most of that from the Internet and the scant few Watcher's diaries I have in my possession." Giles told Angel as he cleaned his glasses.

"We're looking at chaos if The Chalice is activated." Angel stated.

Giles nodded in sombre agreement.

"Apocalypse actually. Far worse from what I'm told." Giles mused, trying to lighten the mood a little and not succeeding.

"We need move quickly on this. I followed it here from the L.A. Museum. We don't even know exactly where it is in Sunnydale or who has it." Angel conceded.

"Ah, I think I may have some information in that regard. The curator of the L.A. Museum contacted me. I was to head there and view some new acquisitions. Unfortunately, Dr. Schwartz also employs Ethan Rayne for the very same purpose." Giles explained.

Angel thought for a moment then said, "Ethan Rayne. I know that name."

"Yes, yes you do. He was a childhood friend of mine. He was the one that enchanted the Halloween costumes and tried to sacrifice Buffy to Eighon last year." Giles said, his distaste for Ethan Rayne painfully obvious in his tone and facial expression.

Angel stiffened at the memory of being possessed by Eighon, the demon Giles and his friends had invoked when they were teenagers.

"I remember." he stated.

Giles took the folder from Angel and placed it back on the pile he had gotten it from. He then turned back to face the vampire with a soul.

"Buffy's patrolling in Weatherly Park with Xander and Willow." Giles offered, answering the unasked but all too obvious question.

"I'll go and see her now. I have some people here with me. Hopefully together we can all stop The Chalice from being activated."

Giles nodded and walked over to the laptop and powered it up, not noticing Angel making a silent exit.

"I'm glad you've brought along some friends. It's always good to have safety in numbers. But while you're here I might just get you to see if you can open this file for me? From what Buffy has said you're someone who is very good…" Giles stopped when he noticed Angel was not behind him. "…at leaving without a sound." he finished sarcastically.

Meanwhile, outside the apartment building Cordy and Doyle sat in the car waiting for Angel. Cordelia had been giving Doyle the rundown of her life in Sunnydale.

"So then we fought the Mayor who was this big..." Cordy gestured with her hands for effect. "…snake thing. And then Buffy and Giles blew up the highschool." Cordy told him.

"Sounds like those were the days." Doyle quipped.

At that moment, Angel walked back to the car. Doyle looked down at his watch as Angel opened the door and got in to the back seat.

"Nice timin', man. I was about to send Cordy in to save ya." Doyle said with a grin.

"Did you kill him?" Cordy asked matter-of-factly.

"What?" Angel said giving her an incredulous look. "No. Neither of us tried to kill each other. We're here to stop The Chalice reaching the Hellmouth and Giles knows that. He doesn't know much more about it than we do though." Angel told Doyle and Cordy as they watched him from the front of the car.

"So we're going to see Buffy now, right?" Cordy asked him, knowing that they would be.

"She's in Weatherley Park."

Elsewhere, a vampire lunged at a spritely young blonde. She sidestepped his attack and brought the heel of her palm up, slamming it in to his solar plexus. She then swung her left arm around in a wide arc, her fist meeting his head with a dull thud. The vampire countered with a kick, forcing his fellow combatant to step back. When she stumbled slightly, he struck her in the ribs, knocking the wind from her. She recovered quickly putting two quick jabs on his jaw.

"Yay Buffy!"

While she was distracted by the new voice, the vampire punched her in the nose. The blonde turned and gave the redhead who sat off to her right a scolding look.

"Sorry! Just being the cheer section." Willow offered sinking a little lower as she and Xander watched Buffy engaged in a battle with the seventh vamp of the night.

"Not really sure that this is the kind of thing where a cheer squad is required, Will." Xander told her while keeping his eyes on Buffy. When Buffy took another hit to the face, he cringed. "That's gotta hurt."

Buffy kicked the vamp in the stomach and stood with her hands by her sides, her knuckles white as she gripped the stake in her right hand.

"There's two ways we can do this." Buffy told the vampire. "Either I kick your ass or I kick your ass." Buffy about thought that last statement for moment then added, "Whichever way it goes, I'm pretty much gonna be kickin' your ass."

"Bring it on Slayer." the vampire hissed through long fangs.

Buffy spun around in a swift roundhouse kick that launched the vampire off his feet and flung him a metre backward. Buffy rushed at the fallen vampire and plunged her stake in to his chest. The vampire exploded in a cloud of dust and Buffy stood, brushing dust from her pants.

"Consider it brought." she quipped.

Buffy walked over to her friends who were making their way towards her. Willow and Xander were her best friends and it was times like these that she was glad they were around for her. It was nice to see some friendly faces after slaying a vamp.

"That was bracing." Buffy said of the fight she'd just had. She then turned to Willow and smiled. "Thanks for the cheers Will."

Willow pushed Xander's shoulder playfully.

"See? I told ya she appreciates 'em. There's nothing like a little Slayerette pep rally to keep ya fightin', huh, Buffy?" Willow asked, looking to her best friend for support.

"That is definitely right. You need to get some team spirit, Xand." Buffy offered.

Xander raised his hands in a gesture of defeat and said, "I draw the line at pom-poms."

The trio walked and shared a laugh until they heard a snarl coming from up ahead. Buffy instinctively shielded Willow and Xander behind her. Another snarl could be heard and it became a growl. Buffy scanned the area desperately trying to see what was there. Then it revealed itself. A humanoid form, covered in hair, fangs bared and snarling at them. It looked like a werewolf but it was much smaller than any werewolf any of them had seen.

"What is that?" Willow asked from her position behind Xander and Buffy.

"A werewolf." Xander told her, turning his head slightly in her direction.

"I dunno Xander. Are you sure? It looks pretty small for a werewolf." Buffy reasoned as the creature started making it's way toward them.

"Well geez Buff, it's not a friggin' Ewok." Xander replied.

"Funny." Buffy countered.

She then started running toward the small werewolf and it started running toward her, loping like an oversized wild dog. Buffy set herself for a collision, knowing that the attack would be painful and that knowledge sent a shiver down her spine. The werewolf was only a metre away now. Buffy could hear Xander and Willow running behind her and she could only hope that the werewolf didn't go for them. Then it leapt at her and she braced herself. Suddenly, from out of nowhere, the werewolf was tackled mid-air by a shadowy figure. Man and beast rolled across the grass in a tangle of arms and legs. The fight had lasted less than two minutes when the trio heard an audible crack. The werewolf's neck had been broken. Buffy saw fangs on the man that had tackled the werewolf and that was when she realised that a vampire had saved her and her friends. And only one vampire would attack a werewolf.

"Angel?" Buffy asked, stunned beyond belief as her former lover got to his feet, wiping blood from his cheek.

"Buffy." Angel replied in greeting, his senses reeling at the site of her.

"Dead Boy?" Xander asked, barely able to get the words out of his mouth.

"Don't call me that." Angel retorted, his face returning to its normal visage.

"What're you doing here?" Buffy asked him, stepping toward him and raising her hand to the cut on his face. "You're hurt."

"Yeah." Angel agreed, wincing at the sharpness of the gunshot wound he'd put to the back of his mind until he tackled the werewolf.

Cordelia and Doyle joined the group at that point and that was when Buffy realised that the three of them being there meant only one thing. Trouble in Sunnydale.

"There's going to be another apocalypse, isn't there?" Buffy asked him, after acknowledging Cordy.

"Not if I can help it." Angel told her.

While Buffy and Angel talked, Xander turned his attention to his former flame. His relationship with Cordelia had been mostly insults but seeing her again stirred up a few old feelings.

"Cordelia." Xander greeted, then gestured to Doyle. "Boyfriend?"

"Yeah right." Cordy scoffed.

"Stalker?"

"He wishes. He's my… he's my… what are you?" Cordy asked Doyle, giving him a puzzled look.

"I'm her Doyle." Doyle stated, offering his hand to Xander who shook it firmly.

"Again with the wishing." Cordy said with a roll of her eyes.

Xander studied Doyle and asked, "What kind of name is Doyle?"

"It's my last name." Doyle told him.

"What's your first name? Francis?" Xander inquired and started to laugh.

"Yeah."

Xander abruptly stopped laughing. "Oh."

Cordy shook her head at her former boyfriend. She couldn't believe she ever dated him.

"I see you're still as tactless as ever Xander." she spat.

"Me? This from the woman who actually told one of our teachers to fix his hair piece."

"Oh come on! He looked like he had carpet on his head!" Cordy reasoned.

While Xander and Cordy continued their sarcastic exchange and Buffy and Angel were engaged in conversation, Doyle introduced himself to Willow.

"Nice to meet you." Willow said with a smile.

"Likewise. They've always been like this?" Doyle asked, gesturing to the still bickering Cordelia and Xander.

"Oh, yeah."

"And you're used to just watchin' 'em?"

"It's one of the lesser known spectator sports." Willow told him.

A few metres away, Angel had been telling Buffy about the threat The Chalice posed to Sunnydale, and the rest of the world. Angel was not happy that The Chalice had ended up here considering that it put Buffy in direct danger, but he also knew that there were few people better equipped to face the challenge that lay ahead. In the end, if a battle for The Chalice was going to happen, Sunnydale may just be the best place for it.

"So I guess we rally the troops then." Buffy stated, the seriousness of what they were facing starting to sink in.

"This won't be a walk in the park." Angel warned her.

"I'm not one for parks anyway." she replied.

"Whatever happens, just be on your guard." Angel said, unable to hide his concern and worry.

"You know me, I'm Little Miss Careful." she told him, trying to play down the situation and ease his fears.

She smiled at Angel and her heart skipped a beat. She was still in love with him no matter how much she tried to kid herself. Her heart would never lie and it would always have a special place for her former love. Angel started walking back to the others and she followed, her mind spinning from his presence. When they got to the group, Willow and Doyle were watching Cordy and Xander who were still engaged in a battle of insults.

"You guys having fun?" Buffy asked as she stood beside Willow.

"It's just like old times." Willow replied, referring to Xander and Cordy who stopped arguing when she made the comment.

Buffy noticed that Doyle had been watching her since she walked over and she turned to face him.

"Why is the weird man staring at me?" she asked rhetorically.

"So this is the legendary Slayer." Doyle said.

"Buffy, this is Doyle. He's my link to he Powers That Be." Angel said introducing Doyle.

"Hi." Buffy said, regarding Doyle curiously.

Cordy and Angel headed toward the entrance of Weatherly Park and Buffy and Willow followed. Buffy quickly caught up to Angel and walked beside him.

"He reminds me of Whistler." Buffy said of Doyle, referring to the impartial demon that had helped them during Angel's time as Angelus.

Angel stopped on the spot, stabbing the air with a finger.

"I knew that's who I was thinking of!"

"Who's Whistler?" Doyle asked confused.

Doyle was still trying to work out whom he reminded Buffy and Angel of when Xander walked up beside him.

"Link to The Powers huh?" Xander asked, genuinely interested that Doyle was Angel's link to one of the universes highest orders.

"Yeah. Visions, migraines, whole lotta fun. Who's Whistler?" he asked Xander. When Xander shrugged his shoulders, Doyle raised his hand and began jogging after Angel. "Yo, Angel! Wait up man! Who's Whistler?"/lj-cut


	4. Chapter 4

Back at Giles's apartment, the former Watcher was asleep at his desk, his face mashing the keyboard of his laptop computer. Suddenly he snapped awake, still disoriented by his location.

"Wha-? Wha-? Oh." Giles muttered as he realised that he had fallen asleep at the computer while researching The Chalice.

Unfortunately, his efforts had been fruitless. He hadn't intended to be downstairs all night, he was even dressed in his pyjamas since he had decided to go to bed hours ago. He just never managed to get there. He looked at his clock and saw that dawn would be approaching in less than half an hour. He was looking forward to his bed, for at least a few hours sleep.

Giles was heading upstairs about to go to bed when there was a knock at his door. He sighed heavily and trudged back down the stairs to the front door. Another knock came before he had reached the door. He was hopeful it wasn't Spike seeking refuge again. That damn vampire had been coming to Giles for help ever since he was neutered. As Giles walked past the coffee table he glanced at the crossbow leaning against it. If it was Spike, Giles was not in the mood to be annoyed. Another knock bought an audible groan from the former Watcher.

"Oh for Godsake, I'm coming!"

Giles opened the door and was greeted by Buffy and Angel, along with the rest of their entourage. Giles stepped aside and gestured them inside as they all filed past him.

"Cordelia, you've certainly changed." he offered by way of greeting as the leggy brunette made her way in to his apartment.

"You're still the same." she replied tactlessly and upon several looks from the others, she added, "What? It's a good thing."

Once they were in the living room, Giles told them all to take a seat where ever they could.

"So this is everyone I take it." he said.

"All that we brought with us." Buffy quipped.

"Ah, I see. Well I gather it's The Chalice that brings you all here?" Giles asked the group assembled before him.

Angel nodded then introduced Giles to Doyle, since the Irish half-demon was the only person in the room Giles did not know.

"Hey G-Man, how's it hangin'?" Doyle greeted with a nod.

"Oh wonderful, an Irish Xander." Giles quipped. "Who would like some tea? Perhaps I'll put the kettle on?"

When Giles stood, everyone suddenly noticed his long, royal blue pyjamas emblazoned with small anchors. Buffy and Willow stifled giggles as Giles noticed their looks.

"Nice 'jam'mies Giles! Are those from The Intimate Watcher collection?" Xander wisecracked.

Before Giles could manage a response, Cordelia retorted, "Don't be stupid Xander. Giles isn't a Watcher anymore. He got fired."

"Thankyou for reminding me Cordelia." Giles said before disappearing in to the kitchen to prepare the tea.

There was another knock at the door and Giles could be heard cursing at the sound from the kitchen. The sun had risen not long ago and that meant he would more than likely be stuck with at least Angel for most of the day. Probably the rest of the group as well. He was not in the mood for more visitors. All he wanted to do was sleep since he had spent most of the night researching The Chalice.

"I'll get it." Buffy called and made her way to the door.

She opened it and was confronted with the sight of Spike huddled under a blanket. Her shoulders sagged as the bleached blonde vampire stood restlessly in front of her.

"C'mon Slayer! A man could burn alive out here!" Spike exclaimed.

Buffy promptly punched Spike in the nose.

"You're not a man or alive, Spike." she stated then punched him in the nose again. "Come in."

Spike quickly dashed inside and clutched his nose, looking at the people watching him with mixed reactions.

"Y'know, she has real anger management problems." Spike quipped, wiping blood from his swelling nose.

"Spike." Angel hissed through clenched teeth as he rushed at the vampire, delivering a third punch to the vampire's nose.

"Ow! And you're just a pillock!" Spike howled as pain hit him like a brick to the head.

Angel started to herd Spike out the door, his former prodigy resisting, when Buffy grabbed his arm.

"Angel, stop. Spike's been spayed. He can't bite like all the other puppy dogs anymore." Buffy said of the chip that had been put in Spike's head to stop him feeding. "Come on. Let's get you to the bathroom and clean you up. You're bleeding everywhere." she suggested, dragging him toward Giles's bathroom.

"I'm bleeding everywhere too y'know!" Spike complained.

"I know, but I don't care." Buffy stated, then called to Giles, "Giles can we use your bathroom to clean Angel up?"

"Why not? Make yourselves at home." Giles replied sarcastically.

Knowing glances were exchanged between Willow, Xander, Doyle, Spike and Cordelia as Buffy led Angel to the bathroom.

"So should we brace for another possible apocalypse then?" Doyle asked as Giles walked in to the room with a tray heavy with teacups and a full pot of tea.

"If The Chalice makes its way to the Hellmouth and is activated then I dare say we're in for a spot of bother, yes." Giles stated, not knowing that Doyle had not been referring to The Chalice.

"He means Buffy and Angel getting all groiny." Cordelia said flatly.

"Where?" Giles spat, not meaning to seem as concerned as he did. "I mean, I certainly hope nothing's going on in my bathroom. I just cleaned it yesterday."

"Yeah, 'cause the world being destroyed is nothing compared to a dirty bathroom." Xander quipped.

"He's talking about the dirty stuff happening in there." Cordelia told Xander.

Xander grimaced at the sound of her voice.

"I got that."

Willow coughed and slightly raised her hand, getting the attention of the entire group. While they had all been discussing the apocalyptic possibilities of a reunion of the flesh between Buffy and Angel, she had been pondering the dangers of The Chalice.

"So, Angel never explained exactly what this Chalice thingy does." Willow mentioned, fishing for an explanation.

Giles took his glasses off and began cleaning them. When Giles started to clean his glasses that often meant one of two things; what he was about to say was going to be bad, or what he was about to say was going to be long-winded. Sometimes, it was both. In this particular case, Giles didn't know a whole lot.

"Unfortunately there isn't a lot of information on The Chalice. Most of what has been recorded was, until recently, believed to be myth and legend. There's never been any concrete proof that it actually exists. It is said to be made from the stone from a Hellmouth that existed in another dimension many milennia ago. The stone apparently is made of ancient demon flesh. If The Chalice reaches the Hellmouth it becomes active. If that happens portals will open, dimensions will bleed in to each other and basically any apocalypse we've ever faced will seem like a church picnic." Giles sombrely told the group.

Willow swallowed hard.

"I'm guessing that'd be kinda bad." she reasoned, her voice small.

"Quite the under statement. From what I've read this dimension would cease to exist. The problem is, we don't know enough to be able to stop The Chalice from being activated. All I know for sure is that if it is activated, there will be no way of stopping it."

Upon seeing Willow's extremely distressed look, Xander put a comforting arm around her.

"It's gonna be ok, Will. We're totally on the case. Sure, we don't know what the case is but we're on it." Xander told her, trying to reassure her. Upon looks from Giles, Cordy and Doyle, he asked, "I'm not helping am I?"

Doyle reached for a cup of tea and took a sip. He grimaced slightly, shaking his head at the taste. He put the cup down and walked over to a cabinet against the far wall.

"Got any single malt layin' about G-Man?" Doyle asked.

"No, and, for the love of God, please stop calling me G-Man." Giles reprimanded, joining Doyle at the cabinet and closing the small door that he had opened in his search.

"You mean to tell me that an Englishman hasn't got any Teacher's around his pad?"

"One, we don't live in the seventies anymore so this is not my 'pad' and two, Teacher's is scotch. I am not Scottish!"

"Well neither am I, but I don't tend to be prejudiced when it comes to drinkin'" Doyle countered.

"Prejudiced? God, you don't even tend to be choosy. You'd drink dishwater if you thought it had alcohol in it." Cordy stated.

In the bathroom, Buffy had cleaned and dressed Angel's gunshot wound and was now working on the places where the werewolf had clawed him. Angel sat on the sink while Buffy cleaned the cuts on his face. She wiped a swab over his left cheek and he flinched slightly.

"Did that hurt?" she asked concernedly.

Angel nodded.

"Just a little. You need to remember you're wiping not digging. Try being a little gentle." he told her with a smile.

She apologised and wiped his cheek again. He flinched and took her hand in his.

"Like this." he told her as he guided her hand.

"Oh, like that. Nice and soft." she replied almost in a whisper.

Angel touched her cheek without even thinking. Being this close to Buffy caused him to lose any self-constraint.

"Soft." he repeated.

He then cupped her face in his hands and kissed her. Buffy returned the kiss, dropping the packet of swabs on the bathroom floor, her hands tangling in Angel's hair. As they kissed, the door opened. They broke the kiss almost instantly. It was Giles.

"Oh bloody marvellous. Perhaps when you're done, you could join us in the living room to discuss stopping the impending apocalypse?" Giles said, looking at Buffy and Angel in turn. "That is, of course, if you're not too busy trying to cause one."

Giles looked at them a second longer then closed the door. Buffy smiled sheepishly at Angel. She didn't know what to say. She didn't know where to look. She wanted Angel back but she also knew they had agreed not to tempt fate. Now they had and Buffy wasn't sure what that meant for picked the swabs up off the floor and went to wipe his cuts again. Angel raised his hand.

"All better, I swear." he stammered and hopped off the sink. "Thanks"

Angel smiled at Buffy as he stood near her. They leaned toward each other and almost kissed again but pulled up short.

"We'd better…" Buffy said.

"Yeah. We'd better…" Angel agreed.

He then turned and walked straight into the closed door. Buffy giggled softly. He stepped back, his face red with embarrassment, then opened the bathroom door and left. Buffy cleaned up the bathroom and then joined Angel and the rest of the group. When she sat down next to Willow she noticed that all eyes were on her. She was about to comment when Xander, as usual, made a wisecrack.

"Who's been a naughty Buffy?" he asked mockingly.

"Xander!" Willow exclaimed in disbelief at Xander's comment.

"Like he was the only one thinkin' it." Spike quipped.

Angel rolled his eyes and shook his head.

"Shut up Spike."

The bleached blond vampire stood bolt upright.

"Why don't you do the shuttin' up, you nancy boy, hair gel wearing ponce!" he countered.

"Why don't you make me, Captain Peroxide?" Angel replied, standing to face Spike.

"Alright then! I will!"

Spike got right in Angel's face, pushing him. Angel pushed back, knocking Spike off his feet and sending him hurtling in to Giles's coffee table. Wood splintered as Spike hit the floor. He was on his feet quickly and ran at Angel, tackling him in to the wall, sending a shelf crashing to the floor. The pair exchanged blows for a short time before Buffy and Doyle wrestled them apart.

"Brilliant! Just brilliant! How much of my stuff do plan to damage before you get it all out of your systems?" Giles spat at the pair of vampires as he surveyed the damage the pair had done to his living room during their short scuffle.

"Giles, there's over a hundred years of this macho crap in their systems. They'd destroy your whole house and still not have it out of their system." Buffy reasoned as she dragged Angel back to the couch.

Elsewhere, Ethan Rayne stood in front of a pedestal on which rested a dark brown stone cup. It had no distinct markings and it held no visual significance, yet Ethan regarded it as though it was his most prized possession. He gazed upon it, a smile creeping on to his weathered features.

"You, my pretty, are the star of the show." he stated toward the stone cup.

He dared not touch it though, for this was The Chalice Of The Ancients, a cup with so much evil in it that someone with a soul could not lay even a finger on it. Ethan had a soul, even if most of the things he did would illustrate otherwise. So he had to wait impatiently until he could perform a ritual to have his soul taken from him. Ethan was uneasy with his current arrangement given that he preferred to work alone and had been forced to hire a demon to help him steal The Chalice. Being unsoulled had caused Ethan little trouble up until now. Now he was worried about being betrayed.

"Ethan Rayne, I have brought man to you." a gruff voice told Ethan.

Ethan turned to see his associate dragging a man through the door of the warehouse they were using as a base of operations. The demon, Praxik, was a Glakk demon. Glakk demons were also known as Bone Hunters given their propensity for collecting the bones of their victims. They were large, blue coloured demons, muscular in proportions and vicious. Known as soulless, heartless, cruel and not very intelligent, Ethan felt that a Glakk demon was perfect as hired muscle. And Praxik was even dumber than most Glakk demons, given the fact that most Glakk demons could speak proper English.

"Thankyou Praxik." Ethan said acknowledging the large demon, then turned his attention to the man crumpled in a heap next to him. "Mr. Finlayson. Glad you could join us. I certainly hope that my big, oafish friend over there didn't hurt you too much?"

Dennis Finlayson was in his late thirties with red hair and a red goatee beard. He worked at the SunnydaleArtGallery and had been working there for two years. He knew a large amount about unusual artefacts but the manager of the gallery seldom allowed such things to be displayed in her gallery. He didn't know who the man in front of him was but he knew something was definitely amiss.

"Who are you? And how do you know my name?" Finlayson said as he got to his feet.

"I have connections and they have told me that you may be able to give me some information on something not readily available. I have a number of artefacts in my possession that could be used in certain rituals. What I need from your good self is a little bit of information."

Finlayson regarded Ethan with suspicion.

"What kind of information?"

"Oh, consider it a game Mr. Finlayson. A little match the artefact to the ritual. Nothing more nothing less." Ethan quipped.

He guided Finlayson toward a table covered with several artefacts. He didn't notice the other man stop at the pedestal where The Chalice rested. Finlayson reached for The Chalice with curiosity and his hand was slapped away by Praxik.

"No touch Chalice!" the demon boomed.

Finlayson held his hand, a look of pain turning to anger. He went to berate Praxik when Ethan grabbed him by the shoulders, directing him toward the table.

"I was just wanting a closer look." Finlayson explained.

"Trust me, Mr. Finlayson, you don't want a closer look at that." Ethan explained. "Now if you'd be so kind as to take a look at these for me and tell me which one of them would be useful in a soul-taking ritual."

Finlayson's jaw dropped. He had knowledge in tribal and demon rituals and he knew of soul-taking rituals but he also knew that they were extremely dangerous. He pointed to one of the smaller pieces.

"This one would be what you're looking for but it's only one half." Finlayson said, unsure whether he should give Ethan the information, but also unsure of what would happen if he didn't.

"And where would I find the other half?" Ethan asked.

Finlayson shifted uncomfortably.

"At the gallery. We have items like this stored out back. The manager would never allow it to be released though."

"Really? I think we can be persuasive." Ethan replied looking at Praxik. "What's the manager's name?"

"Joyce Summers." Finlayson told Ethan, swallowing hard.

"Very good." Ethan said as Praxik walked over to the pedestal where The Chalice stood like an overseer of evil. When the demon had The Chalice in his grasp, Ethan turned back to Finlayson and said, "Oh and ?"

Finlayson gave Ethan a puzzled look and that was when Praxik tossed The Chalice to him.

"Catch."

Finlayson reflexively caught The Chalice in both hands. When the stone touched his skin, he let out a blood-curdling scream that echoed off the walls of the warehouse like a banshee's howl. His chest began to burn from the inside, spreading a wild flame throughout his body, charring his flesh as it went. Soon the scream became an indistinguishable gurgle and then ceased entirely as Finlayson became nothing more than cinders scattering across the floor.

"Man burned." Praxik stated as he scooped up The Chalice.

Ethan merely nodded in agreement and followed the lumbering Glakk demon out the door.


End file.
